1. the people of the land took
Jehoahaz—Immediately after Josiah's overthrow and death, the
people raised to the throne Shallum (1Ch 3:15), afterwards called Jehoahaz, in
preference to his older brother Eliakim, from whom they expected little
good. Jehoahaz is said (2Ki 23:30)
to have received at Jerusalem the royal anointing—a ceremony not
usually deemed necessary, in circumstances of regular and undisputed
succession. But, in the case of Jehoahaz, it seems to have been
resorted to in order to impart greater validity to the act of popular
election; and, it may be, to render it less likely to be disturbed by
Necho, who, like all Egyptians, would associate the idea of sanctity
with the regal anointing. He was the youngest son of Josiah, but the
popular favorite, probably on account of his martial spirit (Eze 19:3) and determined opposition to the
aggressive views of Egypt. At his accession the land was free from
idolatry; but this prince, instead of following the footsteps of his
excellent father, adopted the criminal policy of his apostatizing
predecessors. Through his influence, directly or indirectly used,
idolatry rapidly increased (see 2Ki 23:32).

2. he reigned three months in
Jerusalem—His possession of sovereign power was of but very
brief duration; for Necho determined to follow up the advantage he had
gained in Judah; and, deeming it expedient to have a king of his own
nomination on the throne of that country, he deposed the popularly
elected monarch and placed his brother Eliakim or Jehoiakim on the
throne, whom he anticipated to be a mere obsequious vassal. The course
of events seems to have been this: on receiving intelligence after the
battle of the accession of Jehoahaz to the throne, and perhaps also in
consequence of the complaint which Eliakim brought before him in regard
to this matter, Necho set out with a part of his forces to Jerusalem,
while the remainder of his troops pursued their way at leisure towards
Riblah, laid a tribute on the country, raised Eliakim (Jehoiakim) as
his vassal to the throne, and on his departure brought Jehoahaz captive
with him to Riblah. The old expositors mostly assumed that Necho, after
the battle of Megiddo, marched directly against Carchemish, and then on
his return came to Jerusalem. The improbability, indeed the
impossibility, of his doing so appears from this: Carchemish was from
four hundred to five hundred miles from Megiddo, so that within "three
months" an army could not possibly make its way thither, conquer the
fenced city of Carchemish, and then march back a still greater distance
to Jerusalem, and take that city [Keil].

5. Jehoiakim … did that which was evil in
the sight of the Lord—He followed the course of his
idolatrous predecessors; and the people, to a great extent, disinclined
to the reforming policy of his father, eagerly availed themselves of
the vicious license which his lax administration restored. His
character is portrayed with a masterly hand in the prophecy of Jeremiah
(Jer
22:13-19). As the deputy of
the king of Egypt, he departed further than his predecessor from the
principles of Josiah's government; and, in trying to meet the
insatiable cupidity of his master by grinding exactions from his
subjects, he recklessly plunged into all evil.

6. Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of
Babylon—This refers to the first expedition of Nebuchadnezzar
against Palestine, in the lifetime of his father Nabopolassar, who,
being old and infirm, adopted his son as joint sovereign and despatched
him, with the command of his army, against the Egyptian invaders of his
empire. Nebuchadnezzar defeated them at Carchemish, drove them out of
Asia, and reduced all the provinces west of the Euphrates to
obedience—among the rest the kingdom of Jehoiakim, who became a
vassal of the Assyrian empire (2Ki 24:1). Jehoiakim at the end of three years
threw off the yoke, being probably instigated to revolt by the
solicitations of the king of Egypt, who planned a new expedition
against Carchemish. But he was completely vanquished by the Babylonian
king, who stripped him of all his possessions between the Euphrates and
the Nile (2Ki 24:7).
Then marching against the Egyptian's ally in Judah, he took Jerusalem,
carried away a portion of the sacred vessels of the temple, perhaps in
lieu of the unpaid tribute, and deposited them in the temple of his
god, Belus, at Babylon (Da 1:2; 5:2). Though Jehoiakim had been taken
prisoner (and it was designed at first to transport him in chains to
Babylon), he was allowed to remain in his tributary kingdom. But having
given not long after some new offense, Jerusalem was besieged by a host
of Assyrian dependents. In a sally against them Jehoiakim was killed
(see on 2Ki 24:2-7; also Jer 22:18,
19; 36:30).

9, 10. Jehoiachin was eight years
old—called also Jeconiah or Coniah (Jer 22:24)—"eight" should have been
"eighteen," as appears from 2Ki 24:8, and
also from the full development of his ungodly principles and habits
(see Eze
19:5-7). His reign being of
so short duration cannot be considered at variance with the prophetic
denunciation against his father (Jer 36:30). But his appointment by the people gave
umbrage to Nebuchadnezzar, who, "when the year was expired" (2Ch 36:10)—that is, in the spring when
campaigns usually began—came in person against Jerusalem,
captured the city, and sent Jehoiachin in chains to Babylon, removing
at the same time all the nobles and most skilful artisans, and
pillaging all the remaining treasures both of the temple and palace
(see on 2Ki 24:8-17).

11. Zedekiah—Nebuchadnezzar appointed
him. His name, originally Mattaniah, was, according to the custom of
Oriental conquerors, changed into Zedekiah. Though the son of Josiah
(1Ch 3:15; Jer 1:2, 3; 37:1), he is called the brother of Jehoiachin
(2Ch
36:10), that is, according to
the latitude of Hebrew style in words expressing affinity, his relative
or kinsman (see 2Ki 24:18; 25:1-21).

13. who had made him swear by
God—Zedekiah received his crown on the express condition of
taking a solemn oath of fealty to the king of Babylon (Eze 17:13); so that his revolt by joining in a
league with Pharaoh-hophra, king of Egypt, involved the crime of
perjury. His own pride and obdurate impiety, the incurable idolatry of
the nation, and their reckless disregard of prophetic warnings, brought
down on his already sadly reduced kingdom the long threatened judgments
of God. Nebuchadnezzar, the executioner of the divine vengeance,
commenced a third siege of Jerusalem, which, after holding out for a
year and a half, was taken in the eleventh year of the reign of
Zedekiah. It resulted in the burning of the temple, with, most
probably, the ark, and in the overthrow of the kingdom of Judah (see on
2Ki 25:1-7; Eze 12:13;
Eze 17:16).

21. until the land had enjoyed her
sabbaths—The return of every seventh was to be held as a
sabbatic year, a season of rest to all classes, even to the land
itself, which was to be fallow. This divine institution, however, was
neglected—how soon and how long, appears from the prophecy of
Moses (see on Le 26:34), and of Jeremiah in this
passage (see Jer 25:9-12), which told that for divine retribution
it was now to remain desolate seventy years. As the Assyrian conquerors
usually colonized their conquered provinces, so remarkable a deviation
in Palestine from their customary policy must be ascribed to the
overruling providence of God.